UNICEF Presents Supplements To Bauchi Govt

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has handed over 15,419 cartons of small quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements (SQLNS) to the Bauchi State government to help prevent malnutrition among children.

In addition, 4,562 cartons of ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) were also delivered to support the treatment of malnourished children in the state.

LEADERSHIP Sunday reports that the SQLNS and RUTF were procured by UNICEF with support from the Bauchi State Government through the Child Nutrition Fund, with both parties contributing 50 percent of the funding for the life-saving commodities.

During the handover ceremony in Bauchi yesterday, the state commissioner for Health, Dr Sani Dambam, warned health workers against diverting the supplements, stressing that the items are meant to be distributed free of charge to children and mothers across the state.

He said the government would not tolerate any act capable of undermining efforts to safeguard the health of children.

“Government will not stay idle and allow a few bad eggs to jeopardise the lives of future leaders of the state,” he said.

Dambam added that more than 600 healthcare workers had been trained to ensure effective distribution of the nutritional supplements to beneficiaries.

In her remarks, the chief of field office, UNICEF Bauchi Field Office, Dr Nuzhat Rafique, commended the Bauchi State government and local government chairmen for releasing counterpart funds that made the procurement of the supplements possible.

She, however, expressed concern over the high prevalence of malnutrition among children displaced from communities in Alkaleri Local Government Area who are currently taking refuge in Kashere, Gombe State.

Rafique noted that many children in the camp are “zero-dose” children who have not received routine immunisation and are also out of school.

According to her, UNICEF’s assessment indicates that children in the camp require about 200 cartons of both RUTF and SQLNS to address their urgent nutritional needs.